Guided Search: a new way to find what you’re looking for – Pinterest is introducing a new search feature that it claims has a leg up on the Bings, Googles, and Yahoos of the world. Pinterest Blog

Say Goodbye to Paid Search Terms from Google – We’ve long worked to keep your searches on Google secure. We provided SSL encryption for signed-in searches in 2011 and have rolled that out to searches from the omnibox in the Chrome browser. Today, we are extending our efforts to keep search secure by removing the query from the referer on ad clicks originating from SSL searches on Google.com. Google Ad Developer Blog

Facebook Launches Anonymous Logins – On Wednesday at the F8 conference, Zuckerberg announced the change to the social media platform, which will make it more difficult for your company to access user data. Inc.

LinkedIn Launches Sponsored Updates API and Partner Programs – Content is key to helping marketers and agencies build relationships with target audiences, which is why we have made it our mission to continually move our content strategy forward. LinkedIn

Study: Positive Online Sharing Increases Purchase Intent By 9.5% – Ever wonder how much that glowing social review from your fans is worth? Turns out it’s anywhere from $0.33 for a non-branded grocery item to $8,560 for a luxury car review by a close friend or family member. Marketing Land

Facebook Announces FB Newswire, A Resource For Journalists – Facebook has announced a partnership with social content discovery platform Storyful — FB Newswire, an easier way for reporters, journalists and bloggers to discovery newsworthy stories on the social network. InsideFacebook

Pages with Schema Markup Rank 4 Positions Higher in Search Results [Study] – Schema.org was introduced about three years ago as the preferred markup for websites trying to communicate to search engines like Bing and Google what their pages were about. Search Engine Watch

From our Online Marketing Community:

On If Google+ Is The Walking Dead, Should Your Brand Run?,whatsnext said, “Thanks for a thoughtful post that doesn’t parrot the no source, no fact, total speculative BS that’s passing for coverage in mainstream media. The bottom line: the Google+ strategy you recommend is engagement, relevance and value adding – exactly what every brand SHOULD be doing on every platform. And I maintain that, while Google+ has a social layer, it is not a social network and it should not be compared to Facebook, which is a stand-alone platform.”

Scott Duehlmeier added, “Great post Lee! Over the past year or two, I stopped trying to use G+ like Facebook and Twitter…I go to G+ consume and gather and share. The content I look at and consume is what I used to go to Twitter for years ago…I hope people/brands/businesses don’t run away. I understand why Google would pay less attention to it, but hopefully it doesn’t go the way of the Dodo…or Wave rather. Sharing this out with my coworkers. Thanks.”

From the post What is Creativity? The Answer Could Grow Your Business,Alexandra Gurevich commented, “Lee, thank you for the eBook recommendations, it looks like a good one to check out. From a marketing, journalistic and product design perspective that I’ve recently noticed, creativity develops in a design
thinking process. In this process, best ideas develop in a creative, yet rational and strategic atmosphere with empathy between the team members.”

And on the post Digital Marketing in 2015 – Predictions from 21 Marketers Who Know,Mark Masters said, “We’re off already for 2015…what I’m seeing is that following on from the recognition as media companies, it’s the people that represent these companies who are becoming increasingly influential in the eyes of the ‘influenced’ which is such a powerful differentiator in the marketplaces we operate.

Every single person from this list is a well respected resource and whilst the opportunity to create and publish is easier than it has ever been, these participants know how to aggregate an audience and to stand for something. If we can build an audience who understand our point of view while the majority stick to interuption and repetition then 2015 becomes a space to embrace (hey…that rhymes!)

If that’s something that I strive for in 2015 where people make the connection with what I believe in (and the side of the road I stick to), then I’ll be a happy boy.”

What were the top online and digital marketing news stories for you this week?